Authors' Note: Sorry for the late post! Remember to review and comment. And stay tuned tomorrow for a possible update on the main story!

Also, really sorry to everyone who uses a text-to-speech reader. Mangle's glitchy voicebox is hard to hear.

What if...Ruby was Being Rhetorical

Part 11

Jeremy and Mangle

Some subtle clattering tiles caught her attention and sent her in the right direction. She gave the building a thankful pat as she ran.

Reaching the main room, several things happened at once.

Toby yelped as a tiny ball of chaos almost ran right into Ruby. The teen used a nearby table to vault over her younger self.

That was still so fucking bizarre.

Chi let out a panicked apology which Ruby ignored as she ran for the door.

Another parent seemed to be in the middle of yelling at Teddy and Ruby felt nothing as she barrelled between them and knocked the jerk into a chair.

She screeched to a stop right behind the cops and grinned wickedly. She hadn't done this in so long.

Sticking her fingers in her mouth, she whistled high and loud. The officers jumped in fright.

In all honesty, she'd picked this habit up from her dad. He used to whistle to get the other officers' attention when things were too chaotic and as a child, she'd thought this was brilliant. She just did it for longer than a short burst.

Behind her, her toddler version echoed the whistle in delight and that was just... weird.

Taking advantage of their shock, Ruby reached between them and dragged Jeremy inside by the front of his shirt.

"His uncle is looking for him," she chirped.

By the time they'd gathered themselves again, Ruby already had Jeremy inside and was giving them the shit-eating grin that usually preceded her few official arrests.

One tried to grab Jeremy to stop him. "Hold on! This is an active crime scene! You kids can't just-!"

Jeremy ripped his arm away from the officer, who didn't have a good grip in the first place, stumbling back into Ruby. They were the same age (weird) but Ruby's 4'9" frame was not a good support for Jeremy's six-foot-tall body. Luckily, he didn't have the lean muscle he had as an adult, so she was able to just plant her feet and shove him upright.

"Crime scene!?" Jeremy shouted as he recovered, almost not noticing the girl. What had they told him earlier? "The hell do you mean 'crime scene'?! Where the hell is my sister!?"

"What's going on?" one of the teens outside asked, trying to slip in between the officers, but they stopped her. "Jeremy?"

"Hi Auntie Lia!" baby Ruby called in delight.

So. Fucking. Weird.

Ruby shoved Jeremy back now, away from the officers who had their hands full with the other teens.

"Hedy's okay," Ruby murmured. "She's at the hospital with a broken arm. Your dad's there and you can get the details from Steve."

She knew she was dumping a lot on the poor guy but she could see that one of the cops was breaking away from the door to come towards them.

Ruby eyed him warily. She couldn't remember names, but she was pretty sure this was one of the guys that gave Jeremy such a hard time.

Easily bribed.

She crossed her arms and met the man's glare head on.

"Like I said, his uncle's been looking for him. His dad's already at the hospital," she said again.

"You can't-"

"I can. It's generally not recommended for officers to keep minors from their guardians," she pointed out. "With his dad absent, his uncle is that guardian. And he's inside, looking for him.

"We need to question-"

Oh hell no. That wasn't happening again.

"Alone and without permission from his legal guardian?" Ruby asked sweetly. "Boy you're brave. That opens up all kinds of legal trouble for the station." She let out a low whistle. "Unless he's a suspect for a crime that's already been solved?" she cocked her head and smiled. "That would be rather strange now, wouldn't it? And what evidence or motivation could you have to justify such a thing?"

The cop was clearly thrown off balance by her. "We just want to ask questions-"

"That's different from what you imply from 'questioning'," Ruby tilted her head the other way. "Which is it? Because the least you can do is tell him about his sister before you try all that. Kinda basic human decency you know?"

"Look, kid-"

"I'll take care of it, Jones," Derrick said diplomatically as he appeared behind them, hands on both teens' shoulders. "I'll get their statements. You interview the rest of the customers."

Jones fidgeted for a moment before turning away with a terse nod.

Derrick led them away from the door and the group as the officer took statements from the teens but ultimately turned them away after confirming they weren't around when the incident happened.

"Jeremy! I'll call you later, okay?" Amelia called in worry as she was ushered away.

Jeremy nodded weakly and waved, but was clearly distracted. "What happened? What's going on? Wh-why's my sister in the hospital?"

"First of all, your sister is going to be okay," Derrick said. "I promise. Just a broken arm and pretty rattled, but she'll be okay." He spoke calmly to the rattled teen. "Jeremy, right? I've seen you around, but we haven't talked. Your girlfriend Amelia babysits for us. She's mentioned you."

"O-oh. Nice to meet you," Jeremy said softly, still obviously freaked out. He glanced at Ruby, confused.

"Hello Jeremy," a woman's voice said just behind Ruby as she approached. She reached past Ruby to shake Jeremy's hand with a sweet smile. "It's lovely to meet you. Ruby, this is Wiggy's big brother and Amelia's friend. Have you two met before?"

"Hi, JerJer," the toddler giggled as Rose held her on her hip, right next to the teenage Ruby who had frozen and was staring straight ahead.

Derrick looked a little worried and was watching the older Ruby carefully.

She was tense as a bowstring and he had the feeling that she was barely holding back from bolting, like she had with him. She flinched away from Rose a little when the woman spoke, shoulders hunching slightly.

All her reactions were very subtle though. She was very good at hiding and that made his heart ache.

The lights above them flickered briefly before settling again.

He had noticed that happening before; when Ruby first broke down. He noticed the coincidence, but there were so many strange things happening today that he didn't exactly want to ask yet. It wasn't the most important thing to address at the moment.

Jeremy glanced up but was distracted again as Derrick guided him by the shoulder. "Let's get you sitting down, okay son?"

Jeremy shook his head and anxiously crossed his arms. "Please...just tell me what happened," he pleaded.

Derrick gave Rose a look and she nodded as she addressed their toddler.

"Alright, Ruby, let's go play with your friends again. I think Chica is getting some crafts out." Rose glanced at the teenager as she turned to move out of earshot to distract her daughter, seeing how pale the older Ruby looked. "Sweetheart... excuse me? Young lady, do you need some water?" She was looking at the teenage girl oddly, but it seemed like Derrick hadn't informed her about all the time travel shenanigans. Yet. Rose was studying the teen's face with quite a lot of focus though.

Ruby covered another flinch, jerking her gaze away.

"No, I'm fine," her tone was curt but not quite on the rude side.

Ruby wasn't an idiot. She wasn't stupid enough to be rude to the woman who half the force was scared of. Rose Stone didn't tolerate rudeness.

"Where Mari Mari?" Little Ruby whined.

Still so weird.

Ruby rubbed her face and turned away to take a quick look at the room. The Toys were nearby and looking jittery. They were definitely taking care of her toddler version to help distract them from what was happening.

That reminded her though...

She started walking away. "I need to check something," she muttered as she dodged her dad's hand.

Just as she reached the door, she heard something that almost made her smile.

"Derrick."

Oh, he was in trouble.

Ruby continued on her way through until she found the other resident fox. Damn, but it hurt to see her like this. She pushed past the instinctive fear though, trying not to think of a twisted fox in a cupboard, jaws wide as she swung down.

"Hey Mangle," she murmured. "Don't think anyone had time to update you. But everyone's okay. A bit banged up, but the kids are okay."

The fox whimpered and Ruby reached out to scratch under her chin in that way that got her to melt every time.

"Hedy's okay."

Somehow she ended up with a shaking and rattling fox head in her lap and Ruby sighed to herself. She didn't blame the others really. They'd had a lot dropped on them suddenly.

But the Toys could have remembered to comfort the poor fox and tell her that things were okay. She would have heard some of it as people panicked and ran by.

"Wh-wha-t h-hap-pened?" Mangle whispered. "W-who-o ar-are you?"

Ruby winced at the skipping and scratching crackle of a voice. She had thought Mangle already lost her voice. If it was hanging on by a thread, when exactly had it gone?

"Y-you look like Ruby. A-are you h-h-her big sis-ter? I-I haven't s-seen you be-f-fore." Somehow Mangle was still trying to manage a sweet customer service voice, even if she was scared and anxious with her head resting on a stranger's lap.

"That... is a long story, Mangle," she sighed. "And you probably wouldn't believe most of it. Michael tried to hurt some kids, including Hedy. But we stopped him before he could kill any of them. They're at the hospital and they're gonna be fine."

She still answered the question instead of deflecting because of how much she knew the fox hated people treating her like she was fragile.

"As for me?" Ruby shrugged. "The building went and caused trouble. I'm not supposed to be here, but here I am. Mostly here to cause trouble in all honesty. Time travel." She snorted bitterly. "Right out of the sci-fi books. Name's Ruby. I'm sixteen."

Honestly, Mangle could handle a lot more than people thought. Definitely more than the Toys could.

Mangle went very still and hummed, the vibration rumbling through Ruby's bones. "Mic-Micheal is evil," she said eventually, as if deciding. She didn't sound as horrified as the older bots had been. "H-he too-ok out m-my eye…"

Oh right. Mangle saw some of his worser cruelty that went beyond sibling bullying that Puppet might have thought was normal.

"What's b-being six-teen l-l-like?" Mangle asked, tilting her head slightly, although looking at the teen in wonder and curiosity. Her voice was sounding a little clearer, the speaker possibly warmed up now. "Y-you still l-look li-like you. Just less s-squishy in the face and more ss-squishy on your ch-chest." Mangle tilted her head completely innocently. None of that sneaky humour and pretending she knew less than she did. She was too young to understand human biology. "And t-t-t-taller. And your v-voice is dif-different." She frowned a little and laid her head back down on Ruby's lap. "Hu-humans are weird..." she sounded frustrated.

"We are," Ruby chuckled in amusement. "Here's a tip about growing older. It sucks. Be glad you're not the older sibling. Being a kid is... much simpler." She sounded a bit too nostalgic so she shook herself. "Micheal is evil," she agreed. "And Spring squished his arm so he's got a hell of a lot of karma coming down on his head now. But we'll get you put together again. Things are going to get better, I promise."

She stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

"Everything will get better," she murmured.

She wouldn't leave until she was sure of that.